Moments Not Lost
by PinkFreud
Summary: Takes place in between my stories 'Good Neighbors' and 'The God-Bothered'. She said that once they were safe, she wanted to go everywhere. She wanted to look out the window and see a different part of the world. A collection of stories detailing all of Loki and Darcy's travels and adventures in various places. No real underlying plot, just lots of the usual fluffy smut.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is going to be several chapters long, it basically chronicles the trips that Darcy and Loki took in the interim between ''Good Neighbors'' and ''The God-Bothered.'' There isn't a lot of plot; I just figured that I torture these poor babies so much, they deserve to have a good time. So there will be like, a gratuitous amount of sex. I hope you guys like! Please let me know what you think!**

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><p><em>Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.<em>

**-Rumi**

**Tokyo, Japan**

''Can you believe this place?'' Darcy kept saying, moving around their elegant suite of rooms in the Imperial Hotel. Smiling stupidly, she spun in a circle and then dove onto the enormous bed, sprawling on the linens. The splendour and luxury dazzled her. She didn't know how they were affording this and didn't care to know. Darcy had sworn that she wasn't going to doubt or question too much on this trip, only enjoy herself. That was easier said than done, especially at first. So much crazy awfulness had happened that ordinariness and peace felt strange. She still kept waiting for a piano to fall from the sky and crush her. This line of thinking would not do at all, she realized. ''Just live in the moment,'' Darcy told herself. ''Be zen about things.'' And, fortunately, this moment was a nice one to exist in.

Tokyo was their first stop. After getting settled in Paris she and Loki planned a trip to 'everywhere' because that's where she had said that she wanted to go. Loki had smiled and told her that she might have to be a little more specific. And so she'd picked this city because it was one that she'd been wanting to see since she was a teenager. And now they were here. It was astonishing how bright and quick everything was, how it all seemed to be moving at light speed. There was an overwhelming quality about it; Darcy found herself clutching hard to Loki's hand, feeling a little foolish, but she was actually afraid of getting lost, swallowed up in the glowing, shifting sea of buildings and bodies and signs. Fortunately, there was something magical in Loki's ability to almost seamlessly adapt to any location or situation. He found his way around Tokyo just fine, cool and calm, as if he'd visited there a thousand times before.

This hotel, though...it was just unreal. She felt like a princess.

Loki's heart swelled as he looked at Darcy, saw how happy she obviously was, the flushed, silly, smiling look on her face. ''What would you like to do tonight?'' he asked her.

''Let's go out,'' she replied, sitting up and bouncing a little on the bed. As wild and bright and busy as it was, she couldn't wait to dive right in to the city that was beckoning outside the windows. ''Get some food, some drinks, see where the night takes us.''

''Alright,'' he agreed with a cool smile. Excited, she immediately set to getting ready, showering and dressing in an outfit that had been recently purchased. It was different from what she typically used to wear. Darcy wasn't quite sure when she stopped hiding inside of her clothes and started getting more comfortable with her body, but it felt good. Everything that had happened to them had changed her in so many different ways, some drastic, some subtle. She'd been opened, awakened. She was alive, vibrantly so, and this trip was serving as a constant reminder of that.

The skirt she had chosen was short, but not ridiculous. It was checkered blue plaid, which gave it an undeniable schoolgirl quality. The top was a dark navy, tighter and lower cut. Stockings and high boots completed the ensemble. Darcy dried her hair, scrunching it up, tousling and spraying until it fell around her shoulders in soft, sexy waves. A little bit of smoky eye makeup finished off the look nicely.

She stared into the mirror for a moment, noticing her face from another angle. Everything felt soft and warm, smelled wonderful, like flower petals and amber. Lights, lights all around. Shaking herself out of her daze, Darcy gave her hair one last tousle and walked out into the bedroom to find Loki. Standing in front of the mirror, he was very sleek and attractive in black pants, a black jacket and dark green turtleneck. Damn, but he looked so good in black and green. He looked very _intelligent_, she thought, like a sexy professor. That intelligence sent her body into a riot.

''You need glasses,'' she blurted. He turned and looked at her strangely. ''What?''

''For that look. It would be better if you had like, a nice set of hipster glasses.'' He simply blinked at her in response. Sighing, Darcy reached for her phone, pulling up an image and showing it to him. ''See?'' she said.

With a shrug he said, ''If you insist.'' An instantaneous shimmer passed over his face and then he was wearing thick, trendy eyeglasses, almost identical to the ones she'd just shown him. Darcy gaped. ''You look so...hot,'' she commented. Loki shrugged again but inside he was smiling fiendishly. ''If you say so.'' He hid how pleased he was. He secretly loved it when he could get her all flushed and bothered. Oh, they were going to have a good time later, he knew, as his eyes raked approvingly over the outfit she'd chosen, which emphasized her curves in all the right ways.

''C'mon,'' she grabbed his hand. ''Let's go.''

They exited the splendour of the hotel and walked out onto the busy streets, letting themselves be swallowed into the slipstream, the frantic, arrhythmic heartbeat of the city.

''This place is like electricity,'' observed Loki, looking around and taking everything in once again. ''I quite like it, it's very stimulating.''

''It's _fast_,'' Darcy remarked. ''Maybe if you move fast enough, everything looks like a blur of light.'' Then she paused and added, ''I like it too but don't let go of my hand or you'll never find me again.''

''So dramatic, my girl, so dramatic,'' he murmured, rolling his eyes but still tightening his grip on her hand.

The god of mischief was thoroughly enjoying himself in this strange and beautiful country, something that he hadn't expected. He'd assumed that restlessness would be chasing him, close at his heels as it had always been. But rather, he was calm. And totally smitten with the gorgeous creature walking beside him, clinging to his hand. Now that he and Darcy had so much time just to be together, he had to acknowledge that he was becoming quite the sexual being. This was interesting to experience because it hadn't really been important to him for so long. Sex was pleasant when it happened and it served its purpose but was never more than just a vigorous fuck. It wasn't _this_, what he had found with Darcy. Loki gained a sense of satisfaction and completeness from being with her that he'd never found before. He was tapping into a very intensely passionate side of himself that he didn't exactly know what to do with, but it was powerful, an almost spiritual fervour.

He almost forgot to be angry.

''What is that?'' Pulled from his thoughts, Loki stopped on the sidewalk and pointed at something remarkably bizarre in a window that caught his eye. Darcy followed over to see what he was looking at, then laughed a little. ''That's Hello Kitty.''

Loki kept staring in almost horrified fascination. ''Where's its _mouth_?'' he asked. Darcy shook her head. ''There isn't one. It's ok, don't try to figure it out. Come over here and look at this,'' she said, pointing to an image of Pikachu in the same window. He made a face at it, then looked back over at Hello Kitty. ''Are these...things related somehow?''

''Nah, this one's a Pokemon. He's pretty awesome, he can shoot electricity.''

''Like you,'' he said, thinking of her taser.

''Yes. Exactly. I am Pikachu. Congratulations.'' She pulled him along. Darcy couldn't help but notice that Loki was getting many long, fascinated glances from people, especially young women. She had grown used to it by now, though. Loki was so exotic in his own way that he tended to draw stares wherever he went.

At dinner, they talked about everything from physics to fashion to Zen Buddhism.

''This is very good,'' Loki remarked, picking up a piece of sashimi. ''I'm surprised that you like it though, being as it is raw fish,'' he added. ''You acted so strangely in that restaurant back in Paris, I assumed that you tended more towards vegetarianism.''

Darcy shrugged as she struggled with her chopsticks. ''If I had to label myself I guess maybe I'm more of a pescatarian than anything else. It's not weird ocean food that bothers me, it's weird land food.''

''Weird land food,'' repeated Loki, quirking an eyebrow at her, amused. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled so much. It was like he was having a dream that he was ordinary. She nodded, screwing up her face a little. ''Yeah, like...tripe or sweetbreads or foi gras. This stuff is fine, I mean, it would be if I could get it into my mouth.''

Frustrated, Darcy set down the chopsticks and took a sip from the small sake cup in front of her. ''Having some difficulty?'' he asked in an amused, sympathetic tone. ''Yes,'' she huffed. ''It's not fair,'' she added, looking over at him darkly. ''You're doing that like a pro and you're not even from this dimension.''

''I cannot help it if I have naturally dexterous fingers,'' he retorted. That was true to an obscene extent. She scowled. His eyes glittered mischievously behind the large eyeglasses. Those glasses were driving her crazy. The whole outfit probably would have looked dorky on anybody else but Loki just looked incredibly classy, fiercely intelligent. Darcy found herself being pulled into a fantasy—she was sitting in a classroom. The room was an old fashioned lecture hall, elegant, the way it should look: classic, no glaring screens or whiteboards, just polished wood and books, the smell of chalk and paper. Loki stood in front of the chalkboard, his sleeves rolled up, concentrating. His hand moved quickly, trying to keep up with his mind as he wrote a blisteringly complicated equation. As she watched him, Darcy shifted a little in her chair, unconsciously squeezing her legs together under the desk. He turned around suddenly to face her. ''Do you want me to show you?''

''Darcy, do you want me to show you?'' Blinking as the fantasy evaporated, she saw that Loki had moved even closer to her at the table. His hand reached out and his fingers came down over hers. She was suddenly very aware of how large his hand was compared to hers. ''Relax your fingers, you're too tense. That's a girl.'' She turned to liquid beneath the instructive touch and the velvet sound of his voice, became malleable. ''It's just like...holding a pencil,'' he said as he positioned her fingers along the polished wood utensils. He guided her hand down to the plate. ''Now just grip,'' he said, helping her to lift a bit of sashimi from the plate. ''Very good.'' Her hand lifted higher. ''Open your mouth. There you are,'' he said, smiling as she chewed slowly. Darcy didn't really notice the taste of the food, which was quite delicious. She was too busy staring into his eyes. Little frissons of electricity ran along her skin where he touched her. She set the chopsticks down. Things needed to be cooled slightly, put on simmer. Quelling the slow burn in her lower belly Darcy reached for her glass of sake and drained it. ''I want to sing,'' she said suddenly. ''We're in Tokyo, let's do karaoke.''

''You want to sing,'' Loki repeated, a slow, lovely smile still creeping around his mouth.

''Yes,'' she replied.

''Alright. Let's go.''

There must have been at least a hundred plus Japanese businessmen in various stages of inebriation staring at Darcy as she walked onto the stage. Full of sake, she staggered and swayed maybe only the slightest bit as she gripped the microphone; nobody seemed to be able to tell but Loki. She was singing something that he didn't recognize, but it didn't really matter because nobody was focused on the song. Oh, her voice was relatively on-key and quite pleasant sounding, but everyone was just looking at her, with her full lips and blue bedroom eyes and _that_ there—that predatory smile that crossed her face as she found him in the crowd, he'd taught her that look.

Loki felt something possessive rise up in him, almost violently animalistic. Different coloured light shone down on Darcy's face and lit up her skin and eyes. There was something feral in her that he loved, something that only he could coax out. It sang to a primitive itch beneath his skin, like two wolves calling to each other through a bitterly cold night.

The song finished, she darted off the stage and back to the table. ''Didja like it?'' she asked, blurry and tipsy. She looked like a neo-impressionist painting. ''I did, very much,'' he replied. ''It was quite impressive. Now come along, we should be getting back now.''

''Why? We just got here.'' She batted her eyelashes at him. Loki took gentle bit firm hold of her arm as he stood. ''Your song was lovely, sweet girl,'' he said in a dark voice. ''But I want you to sing just for me now.'' She shivered delightedly. ''Ok,'' came her quiet reply. ''But if I sing for you, you have to do something for me.''

He peered into her eyes. ''What?''

''Teach me,'' she replied.

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><p>He ripped her shirt. Tore it completely down the center. It was so overzealously yet unintentionally cliché and it made her laugh. ''I like your skirt,'' he said, tilting her back onto the bed while skimming his fingers up under the plaid fabric. Teasing at the silk and lace that she wore underneath, a light triumphant smile crossed his lips when he thrust his fingers beneath and found that she was soaking wet. She arched up slightly, rubbing against him. ''Aaah,'' she said.<p>

''I love your body. You have so much potential inside of you,'' Loki told her, pulling away and licking his fingers. Darcy shuddered. Inside their room, the air felt thick, staggering to a stillness, like amber bathed in sunlight. ''I'm going to make sure that you reach it before this night is over.''

He pulled her panties all the way off and then turned her over onto her stomach. She wriggled on the silky sheets, liking the sensation on her bare skin. Loki put a hand on the small of her back, holding her down slightly. There was a strange, indefinable comfort in being restrained by him, that cold otherworldly strength that made her feel inexplicably safe and warm.

Turning her over again, he started teasingly rubbing her clit with two of his fingers. She bucked her hips against him, in answer he pushed one long finger inside of her, moving it in and out very slowly. Darcy squirmed impatiently, wanting more. ''You had better settle down,'' he murmured. ''This is going to take awhile.'' He added a second finger and she gasped out delightedly. Still holding her, Loki kept her pinned down to the bed while stroking her at a pace that was relentlessly slow. She tried to move her hips but the minute she did so he pulled away, leaving her whining at the sudden lack of contact. ''You are such a _greedy_ little thing,'' he whispered in a pleased-sounding voice, the words a cool breath against her skin.

Gripping her hair, he gently pulled Darcy's head to the side, exposing her throat to him. He fastened his mouth against the soft skin there, nipping at her with his teeth. There was a look of very dark promise in his eyes and she knew that she was in for it. She just wasn't sure how long she would last. Her body was on fire, shamelessly aroused, and Loki intended to exploit that completely.

''Breathe,'' he told her. ''You always forget to breathe.'' That was true. She slowly drew in a mouthful of air and then let it out more shakily then she initially intended when his hand closed over one of her breasts, rubbing his thumb over her nipple. ''You like this, don't you?'' he murmured. She nodded dreamily. ''Yes,'' she replied. ''You know I do.''

''That's right, because I know what you like, but I also know what you need. And I'm going to give it to you.'' As he spoke he replaced his hand with his mouth, his tongue laved at her. She was going to come, already, she realized. He could feel it too. He couldn't wait to be buried inside of her to the hilt. But, one thing at a time.

''You try to make it happen too fast,'' noted Loki, halting a moment and looking into Darcy's face. ''I'm...I just have a hard time letting go,'' she breathed. ''It didn't really used to happen that often before...you know, before I met you. I mean, sometimes...but never like...'' she trailed off, swallowed.

He didn't want her to hold back anymore. Not from him, not from herself. Moving back slightly and repositioning his body he pushed her legs open, situating himself between them. When he brought his mouth down against her she couldn't keep from crying out. Loki started very slowly, gently, sucking and caressing. Darcy's hips raised convulsively off the bed. She dug her fingernails into his hair, scratching at his scalp. This was one of her very favourite things, this intimate kiss, heated and gentle. Then he delved his tongue inside of her dripping heat, beginning a rhythm, a dance. She could feel it building inside of her, she was almost there. And he knew she was closer because she started moving her hips and calling him baby and pulling on his hair. But rather than pushing her over the edge the tension simply continued to build, coaxing her to new planes of arousal, not yet reaching a peak.

Loki's hands tightened on Darcy, holding her down, making her endure it while he plundered her. She forced herself to relax into the incredible feeling that sent warmth pooling inside. Then once again he suddenly and maddeningly stopped, pulling away. Her skin ached with loneliness. She made a choked whimpering sound.

Time slowed, bowed.

''Feel it,'' he said, his voice thick. Warmth spread all through her, climbing and licking, igniting sensations that she hadn't known her body was capable of. Darcy felt glowing, radioactive; torn between wanting release and wanting to continue this sweet torture. ''That's good,'' he told her, piercing her with his glittering eyes, like wild ice. ''Slow. You look so beautiful,'' he added.

Light, light, delirious shards, slashes of light. A candle flame, a halo, a gentle nothingness beating like wings against her skin. She was so soft against the heaviness of the air.

Darcy remembered to breathe. Slow, steady. Time was failing to exist, there was only light, and her humming, singing nerve endings. Then in one single quick and elegant movement he thrust inside of her completely. The sudden onslaught hit her just right, and she shattered like a dropped vase. She was either screaming or making no sound at all. It didn't matter. It was perfect. She was liquid light, the space between breaths of air, between heartbeats. It was a calm place, and very still. Outside, the city still moved, so fast it was nearly a blur.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! Thanks for all the follows and faves! Here's the next chapter for you. I really had fun writing it, I hope that you have fun reading! Let me know!**

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><p><strong>The Lake District, England<strong>

Darcy took hold of Loki's hand, lacing her fingers through his as they walked along. It was a brisk, breezy day and she liked the sound the wind made when it rushed over everything. ''Let's go find someplace to get lost.''

''Well, we've got a whole universe,'' he reminded her.

''Let's just limit the getting lost to this lovely island for now,'' she replied with a smile. When she smiled that brightly, Darcy looked very young. Her eyes widened with a sweetness, an innocence that made Loki feel pleasantly strange inside.

Darcy had decided that she wanted to see the Gosforth cross, or at least the one that was standing in St. Mary's Churchyard. Why, Loki didn't know. That particular object conjured some rather strange memories of the months before. Fortunately, the small village of Gosforth was in the Lake District, which had some of the most beautiful natural scenery in all of England. So even if the cross turned out to be unextraordinary, there was still plenty else to keep them occupied.

''Morbid little thing, you, walking around in an old burial yard when there's so much to see,'' remarked Loki as they made their way among the headstones.

''Like what?'' she asked, taking care not to trod too heavily on anyone's grave. ''What are you so interested in seeing?''

He paused a moment, thinking. Then he replied, ''Lakes.''

With a roll of her eyes and a toss of her hair, Darcy said, ''The lakes aren't going anywhere. I think wandering in cemeteries is a fine way to spend a day.'' He didn't _really_ disagree, Loki found. It didn't matter where they went, so long as he could see her smiling. He was becoming alarmingly sentimental like that.

The churchyard was both eerie and pretty, especially framed by the slightly overcast sky. It held an old, otherworldly quality. Darcy drew in a deep breath, letting the cool air fill her lungs, smelling a different part of the world as she had longed to.

''How long do we let something stand and be important, before we decide it doesn't matter anymore?'' she wondered aloud. Loki wasn't sure if she was asking a rhetorical question or not, so he simply let it hang in the air, trailing along behind her as she thought about the several Viking stones that the church featured in its interior.

''Vikings, man,'' Darcy continued a few moments later with a shake of her head. Her train of thought seemed to have swiftly moved to yet another station. ''The Vikings were _busy_. They went everywhere. I wonder if I would have been a good Viking. Maybe. I have a very adventurous spirit, wouldn't you agree?''

''Oh yes,'' he smiled at her. ''And you're quite fierce when you want to be,'' he added. They walked a few more paces until they reached the cross.

Darcy was rather unimpressed as she stared up at the stone obelisk. It seemed rather _small_. Though the carvings were interesting, she now knew too much about the real truth behind the object. In fact, she was one of the few people on earth who knew it was a replica, a very old one, and interesting enough in that regard, but there was not much else to it. ''Ok, let's take a selfie with the thing, just for old times' sake.'' Loki came over to stand next to her and she held up her phone. ''Say 'Ragnarok!' she said jokingly as she snapped the picture. Then, sliding her phone back into her pocket, she took him by the arm. ''I'm hungry, let's get lunch or something.''

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><p>''By lunch, I thought you meant <em>food<em>,'' he said teasingly as they sat together in the small tavern, enormous pint glasses of beer on the table in front of them. ''This is food,'' Darcy insisted, lifting hers and taking a large sip. ''This is like...grains. It's in the bread family. It's a distant cousin.''

Loki shook his head at her, but once again he couldn't help smiling. He loved seeing her happy. He had the terrible sensation that these moments were fleeting, and he needed to hold as tightly to them as he could, absorb all of their magic into himself because the chance might not come again. It was a breathless feeling, one that made him want to pull her even closer, to stretch time to its very limits so that they might have more of it to spend together. It was then that he realised, with a pang that radiated all through his chest, that he was madly in love, even more so than before.

''I like it here,'' Darcy said decisively, taking another sip and then licking her lips. They had spent a day or so in London after first arriving in England, but all cities, no matter how old and historical, were really more or less the same if you spent enough time in them, and Darcy wanted to venture further. She had an inexplicable urge to be around nature. There was a magic to it, almost a holiness, one that she wanted to drench herself in. Once they finished their drinks, Darcy discovered she had actually managed to get mildly buzzed, which meant that the beer was good. Thanks to her newly altered metabolism, alcohol didn't affect her the same way that it used to, which was sometimes useful but annoying more often than not. ''Come on,'' she said, dragging Loki along by his arm once again. ''Let's go see some more sights.''

There wasn't any shortage of sights in the Lake District, between the sparkling water and the mountains stretching up all around. The colours seemed to meld into one another, all the green and blue and grey, touched with gold when the sun shone down. ''The land is really old,'' Darcy remarked. It was, old and wise and listening. There were secrets and ghosts at every turn and it made her shiver, but in a good way. Pausing, she walked more slowly and meditatively, happy that she was able to take these journeys, to see all of this. She had always wanted to travel, and now she was being given her chance, a great gift, and she wasn't going to waste it. The sun had come out now, just a bit. It burst out from behind a cluster of clouds. She looked out at it all, drew in deep mouthfuls of fresh air. It didn't seem right to take a picture at that moment, she just wanted to experience it, build a memory organically.

A few feet away, he seemed to be doing the same thing. In Loki's mind the world hung suspended for that moment like a painting or a photograph. Darcy standing there, all the lines and color against the landscape, her hair blowing in the wind. His mind swallowed it all hungrily, absorbing. That was the first moment that he truly felt like an artist. He suddenly understood why so many were bewitched by this place. He understood why people wrote poems.

''I like the trees,'' she said as they wandered through a small forest.

''They're very nice,'' Loki agreed, following after Darcy. There was a sort of itch crawling through him now, that familiar feeling that made him insatiable for her. He walked closer, making sure that their bodies brushed, that she was aware of him.

''It's like we're hidden out of time in here, like it doesn't even exist,'' she was saying as she stared up at the canopy of trees. The air was cloaked and quiet now. ''Like, maybe we'll walk out of the woods on the other side and be back in the middle ages or something.''

''This isn't one of your books,'' he replied, but with a smile. ''And it wouldn't bode well for us if that actually occurred.''

Darcy thought about it. ''Nah, probably not,'' she agreed. ''They didn't have medicine or indoor plumbing back then.'' Then she turned to him with a scowl. ''Stop being a buzzkill and let me have my imagination.''

''You can have it.''

She shot him a warning look. ''I'm going to tackle you.''

''Oh, please do. At least that would bring a little excitement to this nature walk,'' he teased.

She folded her arms and glared at him. ''Stop being such an old grump.''

''_Make_ me.''

With a huff she turned around and kept walking a few paces. Then she abruptly stopped, turned, and pounced on him, flinging all her body weight against him. Loki allowed himself to be knocked down. ''That's the spirit!'' he said as she tried to pin him on the ground. She was wriggling around on top of him, movements that soon turned from playful to erotic. He sighed, bucking his hips up against her encouragingly, very happy with these new developments. Then she stopped and climbed off, getting to her feet.

''What are you doing?'' he asked in dismay, still lying on the ground with a massive erection.

''I'm not going to fuck you in the middle of the woods,'' Darcy told him as she adjusted her clothes. ''The last thing I need is to get poison ivy in a really unfortunate place.''

''You said yourself, it's like we're hidden in here,'' he attempted to coax her. ''Nobody is going to see.''

''You can't get your way all the time,'' she retorted with a mischievous grin, turning around and walking away.

''All right,'' he grumbled. ''Give me a minute, at least.''

When they returned to their room at the small but elegant inn where they were staying, Darcy smiled seductively and said, ''Now, where were we?'' and then started kissing him. Loki returned the embrace, leaning her down onto the bed. He slid a hand halfway up her thigh and then abruptly paused and pulled away, getting up and leaving her lying there, rumpled and frustrated-looking. ''You know, I really don't feel like doing this here,'' he said with a shrug.

Darcy's mouth dropped open and she glared at him. ''You what?''

''I just don't think that this room is conducive to those sorts of activities at the moment,'' he explained, gesturing around. ''The feng shui is off.''

''You don't even know what feng shui _is_!'' she practically shouted. ''You're just doing this because I didn't want to boink in the woods.''

''I don't know what you mean,'' Loki replied innocently. ''Come along, I want to go back out. You said yourself, this is a beautiful country. Maybe I'll even write you a poem, who knows.''

Darcy groaned, tried to ignore the tingling in her overstimulated body, which wasn't going to be satisfied any time soon. She knew he was playing some sort of game now, and she only had herself to blame, she'd started it after all. But she also knew that if she played along it would bode well for her in the end. ''You need to learn a bit about delayed gratification, darling,'' he whispered in her ear as they walked out the door.

Thankfully, the fresh air and natural beauty once again proved a nice distraction. ''See,'' Darcy said to Loki, pointing out at the glittering water that stretched out in front of them. ''There's one of your lakes.'' Then a small brush of movement by her foot startled her.

''Aah,'' she yelled, jumping up and down. ''What is it?'' he asked. Darcy was still hopping and pointing down at the ground with a stricken look on her face. ''A snake! A snake!'' Sighing, Loki looked and spotted the creature that had her so distressed, slithering through the grass, minding its own business. He reached down and picked it up, gripping it gently as it wound itself around his big hand. ''It's just a little one,'' he said, holding it out for her to inspect. Darcy shuddered and moved back a step. ''Stop being a child, come here,'' he ordered. Scowling, she tentatively crept closer. The snake was much smaller than she had initially thought, and actually rather pretty with its tiny eyes and shimmery, iridescent scales. ''Touch it. It isn't going to bite you.''

Darcy inched back a little. ''I don't want to touch your snake!''

''Yes you do. Come on.''

She reached out with two of her fingers and gingerly ran them along the cool scales. ''See,'' Loki said in a soothing tone. ''Nothing to be frightened of. Why do they bother you so much?''

''They don't have any legs,'' Darcy replied, pulling her hand away, still resisting the urge to squirm. ''I can't ever tell where they're going. They're tricky.'' As if on cue, the snake wriggled and thrashed in Loki's grip but he held it tightly, running his fingers along it until the creature seemed to calm a little.

''Ah, so you don't like them because they're unpredictable.''

She nodded. ''And they can be mean. Some of them are poisonous.''

''Well, some of them are, but not this one.'' He bent down and released it back onto the ground.

''It figures that you like snakes,'' muttered Darcy.

''I don't mind them at all. I think they're misunderstood,'' he answered.

More than one person had compared him to a serpent, she remembered. The sun was going down soon. There was a chill to the air now, and Darcy pulled her jacket tightly around her shoulders. She really did love this countryside though, she thought wistfully. She could understand why so many poets were enchanted by it. It felt as if she looked far enough...

''It reminds me of this beautiful book I had when I was a kid, _St. George and the Dragon_, it had the most amazing illustrations,'' she suddenly said. Darcy hadn't thought of that book in years but it came tumbling across her mind, prompted by something out on the horizon. This place seemed to be doing that to her quite a bit, making her thoughts leap in all directions, to tug at forgotten memories and hidden thoughts.

Loki looked over at her. ''Who's Saint George?''

''A guy. I think he's the patron saint of England,'' she responded vaguely.

''I never understood exactly what a saint was.''

''Someone who's holy, a good person...very close to God, I guess,'' Darcy shrugged. ''I'm not a Catholic, I don't really know. Anyhow, back in the day there was this dragon stomping around...''

''Around England? Here?'' Loki asked incredulously.

Nodding, she continued, ''Yeah, it was terrorizing people and breathing fire and gobbling up sheep or whatever dragons do and so the people turn to this knight, George, for help. And he battles the thing and slays it and then I guess they made him a saint and that's the end of the story.''

Loki seemed to be thinking about this. ''I wonder what the dragon looked like,'' he said after a few moments.

''I think it's just a myth, honestly. There weren't really dragons.''

''Then where did the stories begin?'' he asked her with a raised eyebrow. ''All myths have some grain of truth in them, as you know.''

Darcy shook her head. ''If there really had been dragons here, someone would have dug up the skeletons by now,'' she told him.

''You're starting to sound like Jane. So curious and yet so eager to dismiss. You can't be both. True curiosity requires a completely open mind.''

She put her hands on her hips. ''Alright, smarty, if there really were dragons, then where did they go?''

''Maybe they were actually visiting reptilian creatures from another world. Naturally, once they realized that human beings were such hostile, fearful people, they fled back home.'' He seemed very satisfied by this answer.

Darcy realized suddenly that she despite her earlier frustration she hadn't actually thought much about sex at all during this particular outing, but her _mind_ felt stimulated, buzzed and humming with their discussion. She'd never had such interesting conversations with anyone before and it was very exciting. They did say that the brain was the body's largest sexual organ, didn't they? She was finally starting to see the logic in that.

''What's that look?'' he asked, noting the distracted expression on her face.

''Nothing,'' replied Darcy almost shyly, meeting his eyes. ''I was just thinking that...even if we do live for thousands of years, I don't think it's ever going to be boring. I don't think we'll ever run out of things to talk about.''

This simple statement made Loki feel remarkably warm, stupidly sentimental.

''I've never talked to anyone as much as you, I think,'' he admitted, slipping his arm through hers as they walked together. Trees rustled and murmured, whispers and shadows crept along the rocks. ''Growing up, Thor was never really much for conversation. I talked to Frigga quite a bit, but naturally she was often busy. I suppose I learned to be quiet, to look inward. I realized that the quieter I became, the more I could overhear. I learned the value of silence.''

''You learned to creep around, you mean,'' she corrected with a smile.

''Yes. Like a snake,'' he replied, bringing his face close to hers, until she felt his cool breath tingling on her neck.

* * *

><p>The Lake District was rather famous also for its food, and there were two Michelin star restaurants there. Darcy actually liked getting dressed up and going out to fancy dinners now, something that she most definitely hadn't done all that much before this trip. ''Let's see, what am I going to wear...'' she mumbled to herself as she went through her clothes, trying to find a good outfit for that evening. ''Wear the black dress,'' Loki suggested.<p>

''What black dress?'' she asked.

''The one that's hanging on the back of the door,'' he replied calmly.

''There isn't a black dress-oh,'' she said as she looked and saw that now there was, in fact, a very sexy-looking garment draped on a hanger there. ''Where did you get this?''

He smiled rather impishly but didn't answer. ''God, you need to stop buying me things,'' she scolded him. ''I'm going to be spoiled rotten.''

''I didn't buy it,'' came Loki's cryptic response. ''And really, my motivations are selfish ones.''

Darcy understood that statement a little more once she put it on. It was very tight, very low cut. ''I look ridiculous,'' she muttered, trying to adjust her breasts inside the top of the dress. ''I'm practically falling out of this thing, do you seriously want me to wear this?''

He nodded vigorously.

''You're still trying to punish me for earlier, aren't you?'' she demanded. ''What's next, vibrating underwear?''

''Don't need it,'' he replied in a casual tone, as he put on a tie. The motion of his fingers forming the knot suddenly made her imagine him tying her hands together, and a little shudder swept through her as her mouth went dry and all her earlier frustration came storming back.

There was a sort of palpable electricity in the air between them that only continued to grow throughout the remainder of the evening, little sparks of pent-up sexual energy that practically made her hair stand on end. While they were at dinner, every single action and movement was almost too sensual, the taste of everything amplified to an almost obscene extent. He seemed to be just as affected as she was and now Darcy wondered which one of them was actually causing this or if it was something that they were unconsciously doing to each other. That tended to happen more often than not. Loki gave her a dark look and drank the rest of the wine in his glass then stood up abruptly, grabbing her by the hand with a delightfully restrained roughness.

''What are we doing?'' Her voice came in a little squeak.

''Leaving,'' he growled into her ear, ''before I bend you over the table and fuck you senseless in front of all these nice people.''

''Oh,'' she whispered, a blush creeping over her skin, ''ok.''

* * *

><p>Their room featured a very large and old fashioned standing mirror, which Loki turned to face the bed. Darcy hesitated ever so slightly. ''What are you-''<p>

''I want you to watch yourself,'' Loki said. His voice was low and dark and silky. ''You're still not comfortable enough, I want you to be the insatiable little deviant I know that you can be.'' He worked at unzipping the back of her dress and then helped her step out of it. ''Don't ever be shy,'' he whispered, running his fingers gently along her face and down her throat. ''Not with me. You know I can give you everything you want and more, you only have to ask for it. Every single secret naughty thing, every dark desire that you've ever had, that's only the beginning. You unleashed something in me,'' he smiled wickedly. ''And I'm going to respond in kind. You are my equal in so many ways, more than I ever realized.''

His words kept making Darcy's skin hotter and hotter, restless tension crawled along her limbs. She reached down and stroked him through his pants. He made a low hissing sound in response. ''Take it out,'' he ordered. She eagerly unfastened him and then took his considerable length into her hands, stroking him slowly, teasingly. In what seemed like a lightning-fast movement he pulled away from her and repositioned them so that he was behind her on the bed and they were both facing the mirror. ''Look,'' Loki said, and she watched the reflection as his hands came up and unfastened her bra, leaving her in only a flimsy pair of black lace underwear. ''Look at yourself,'' he ordered as his fingers delved down under the fabric, finding her. Darcy gasped a little as he played with her clit very teasingly. She made a new sound of frustration, an animalistic sound, looked at her flushed face and hungry eyes in the mirror, watched herself responding to him, turning feral under his touch. Then he yanked his hand away and pushed her forward, situating her on all fours. ''Keep watching,'' Loki instructed, pulling her underwear to the side and then slamming into her. The moan that tore from her throat was so ragged and wanton-sounding that Darcy barely recognized the voice as hers. He gripped a handful of her long hair and yanked, knowing that she liked it. He stayed still inside of her for a moment, filling her up, letting her feel every inch of him. ''You and I are going to have such a good time,'' Loki promised, his voice suddenly very soft and affectionate as he began a slow, meandering sort of rhythm. ''This is only the beginning.''

''Harder,'' she begged, seeing the heated look in her own eyes.

''What's that?'' he asked, sliding in and out of her with that lazy slowness.

''Fuck me_ harder_, please,'' pleaded Darcy, all reservations and shyness going out the window. If she couldn't come soon she was going to die.

''Since you asked so nicely.'' Loki obligingly rammed into her over and over again until she saw stars. Then he grabbed one of her hands and moved it down between her legs, making her touch herself while still watching in the mirror. '_We really do look good like this_,' Darcy thought as the sight pushed her over the edge and he gripped her hair harder, forcing her to not look away once as he made her come and then followed after.

''So I guess the feng shui is better now, huh?'' she asked as her heart finally slowed. Her skin was covered in sweat and her body was heavy with delicious exhaustion.

''Oh, much,'' he agreed, laying down beside her. They looked into each other's eyes and the mirror still reflected them, also catching the moonlight through the window.


End file.
